>>>>Drugs like heroin are inherently dangerous without any help from regulation, but it's regulation that creates the atmosphere for murder and drug dealers.
>>>
>>>Yeah, crystal meth and crack cocaine have really helped people to achieve their "highest good".
>>
>>I repeat, the drugs are inherently dangerous. But their mere existence does not cause people to kill each other. Oh, there may be the odd case. But it's the fact that they are illegal that makes them valuable enough for dealers to feel they are worth killing over.
>>
>>It's no different from anything else that people want. Make it illegal, and you create a climate in which ruthless people become rich and even more ruthless.
>
>Some things need to be illegal. Those we've been discussing are some of them. In no way should we even be contemplating unleashing more devastation on our citizens by legalizing more drugs than we already have. I've seen too much of the carnage caused by people using and selling this stuff.


John, Some drugs are less harmfull than alcohol and tabbacco, both medical and socially. If we talk Canabis, it is well medical researched that it is less harmfull than for example alcohol. For example Canabis has way less influence on the ability to drive a car. Tabbaco really increases the risks on certian types of Cancer and is a threat to your general condition. Medically there is no point in denying that. The medical costs of treating the consequences of smoking are tremendous for the society.

Socially we have not accepted those facts because it is classified as drugs (Though alcohol officially also is classified as drug). Soft and hard drugs are lumped on one heap. In holland we identified this many, many years ago and though soft drugs officially illegal no-one is jailed because of using canabis or even other drugs. The odd thing I must admit is that though we can legally sell soft drugs in coffee shops, the production of Canabis still is illegal. Those coffeeshops are stricly monitored and have to adhere to certain regulations. Frequently one is closed because violating them.

Soft drugs are relatively cheap up here (don't ask me the price, I really would not know), so addicted users generally don't go bankrupt because of their addiction and don't have to go into crime to get their stuff. Most of them function well in social life.

The trading side still is criminal and most top criminals are involved in drugs. Once in a while one is murdered, but honestly I would not care that much about a drug criminal to be killed anyways.

Bottom line is that, because of our policy we up here have way less problems with drug addiction. Our rates of addicts is even significantly lower than other surrounding countries and esspecially the US. We were crusified for our liberal drug policy many many years by countries like france and the US. But once they saw their drug related problems were far worse than ours, they are beginning to see the rational of it.

We really have to stop thinking conversatively into these topic.
- If you do not give your children sexual education, don't think that your children won't practise unsafe and teenage sex. You'd better educate the best you can.
- If you do not allow for abortion, some people will die because they will try every way to get rid of the baby. Not to mention the disasterous social implications for the parents involved.
- If you prohibit your kid to drink alcohol, he probably will. And if he does, he likely will do it unresponsible. You'd better give them some drinks at home and regulate it so I he learns the effect and limits.
- If you prohibit your kid to smoke some canabis, he likely will at some party where there is a lot of alcohol as well. Educate them on the effects (medical and socially) of using them.

I'm proud of living in a nation that is on the cutting edge on topics like this. It has the courage swim upstrean to really look at what problems are and how they can be controlled in the most effective way rather than blindly and conservatively hold on to old and outdated believes. That does not mean we do not make mistakes in our policy as some of the progressive decissions we made in the past (e.g. immigration of uneducated people), have bitten us more recently. And sure every change might induce other problems, but least up here we are trying to lift our society to a newer level without the influence of stupid religuous believes and standpoint, but actually looking at facts. And that is the ONLY way a society should be driven, and not by the standards of a third world country.